Catch it like a Snitch
by mad-but-happy
Summary: If Lily hated James so much, how did they end up getting married? Well, here are my thoughts on the matter! I hope you like to laugh and coo! FINISHED!
1. Prats

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, and if I did, all the books would all be out by now and I would be reading them. This is a small romance fanfiction about Lilly and James.

**Catch it like a Snitch**

Chapter 1: Prats

"Oh! I can't stand him anymore!"

Lily slammed her books onto the table, spilling ink everywhere as she did, and glared across the room like an eagle watching its prey. Lily's friend, Brianna, completely ignored this outburst. Lily fumed so much about James Potter that it was utterly impossible to care about it anymore. Everyday, several times per hour, Lily could be heard cursing James to oblivion and wishing he would vanish; death threats were also quite normal as of late.

"Lily," Brianna sighed, not looking up from her book, "James is never going to change. Just give it a rest and try to live with him, already."

These words had a very negative effect.

"Brianna!" shouted Lily, a bit too loud for being indoors, "How can you possibly defend that egotistical, obnoxious, redundant little prat!"

"Did you call for me, my sweet?" said a deep, handsome voice.

Lily turned around and, sure enough, there stood James Potter. He was wearing an expression of distinct impishness, as usual, and ruffled his hair unnecessarily in an attempt to look more stupid. Lily cast him a nasty look, turned away angrily in an effort to ignore him, and waved her wand to clean up the ink; she had only just noticed that it was spilt all over the floor.

"Tusk, tusk!" mocked James, walking around the chair and forcing Lily to look at him, "I'm only answering your call, you know. There's no need to have a fit!"

Lily, again, cast him a filthy look.

"I wouldn't call for you if I were hanging by one finger on the end of a cliff!" she spat, jumping up with a rush of pure hatred.

"My dear," cooed James, pretending to sound worried, "if you were on the end of a cliff you wouldn't _need_ to call for me! I would be there faster then-"

"Oh, shut-up!" Lily interrupted, bumping him on purpose as she stormed away.

Lily thundered up the stairs to girl's dormitory, stopped at the top most stair to shout 'Prat!', and slammed the door so hard she caused a picture to fall off the wall. The man inside it looked very disgruntled indeed.

"Yikes." James chuckled, sitting in the chair that Lily had previously occupied, "She's in a worse temper then usual, today, isn't she?"

Brianna snorted loudly, turning the page of her book as she did.

"She's still upset about you putting that dead Doxy in her hair." Brianna smirked, sounding half amused and half disappointed.

"Oh, is that it?" said James, not sounding sorry at all. "I thought it was because I ruined her potion in class today; I put a chocolate frog in her cauldron to see what would happen."

At this, James stood up and walked away. He was hailed by his usual gang of friends (Peter Pettigrew, Remus Lupin, and Sirius Black), and sat with them to finish his homework by the fire. The Gryffindor common room was usually very full, but since most people were still down at dinner, it was only the Marauders and a couple of giggling first years. Brianna sighed heavily, finally putting down her book, and watched the boys across the room with a heavy heart. If only James would start acting his age… He liked Lily so much, and yet he made an effort every day to terrorize her life. Brianna just didn't get it.

Meanwhile, upstairs, Lily was screaming as loud as she could into her pillow. The sound was muffled, of course, and she tossed it aside when she finally ran out of breath.

"He is so…so…"

But whatever James was, Lily never said. With that, she fell face first into her four poster bed, groaned, and took a very well deserved nap.

Brianna came up some time later to check on her, decided not to wake her, and went back down to the now crowded common room. James and his friends were having a grand old time. Most of the people in the room were laughing as the marauders stood in front of the fire and reenacted their finest high jinks of the day.

Slowly, but surely, the room emptied out. Soon, Brianna looked up from her book and realized that only James and she were sitting in the room anymore. Brianna stood to leave, but James spotted her and prevented her from going. With no friends around, and no one to show off for, James was just as normal as everybody else.

"Brianna, could I have a word?" said James, sounding a little more serious then usual.

"Yes?" said Brianna, wondering what he could possibly be planning.

"Look," he said, glancing around for eavesdroppers, "Is Lily still mad at me, or has she calmed down?"

Brianna shook her head at him. Lily was asleep, and sleep usually made her a whole lot calmer.

"Good." Said James flatly, picking up his quill again, "I have to ask her something important tomorrow and it will be a whole easier if she isn't in one of her moods."

Brianna nodded at this, collected her school things, and walked off to bed. James followed suit, and the common room became empty once more. Brianna lay awake for a few minutes, pondering what James wanted to ask Lily, and fell asleep with a huff. She assumed that it was nothing to look forward to.

_Well, that's chapter one! Let me know how you like it!_


	2. Pretty Please

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, and if I did, all the books would all be out by now and I would be reading them. This is a small romance fanfiction about Lilly and James.

**Catch it like a Snitch**

Chapter 2: Pretty Please

"Ah, there she is…"

James peered over the book he was pretending to read and watched as Lily sat down and started to write an essay. Sirius chuckled, measuring his parchment to make sure he had written enough, and put his feet up on the table; the librarian had given up on trying to yell at him for this.

"Well, go ask her then." Said Lupin, putting down his book about dragons, "She's alone for once, now's the perfect opportunity."

James nodded at this, stood up, and ruffled his hair. Lupin, Peter, and Sirius watched as James strut across the room to ask Lily on a date. As soon as James was out of earshot, the three boys exchanged glances and bust into laughter. Sirius reached into his pocket, pulled out his money bag, and turned to look at Lupin.

"Ten galleons says Lily tries to jinx him." He grinned.

Meanwhile Lily, sighing at the extra homework she had to write for potions class (no thanks to James), leaned back in her chair and gazed out the window. It was a lovely, sunny day, and she was stuck inside doing all this extra work… it was totally unfair to work on such a pretty day, in her opinion.

"Hello, there, Lily!" James sang.

Lily almost fell over in her chair.

"W-What?" She said stupidly, whirling around to see who had spoke.

James grinned happily at this, sat across the table from her, and began to twiddle his thumbs and hum. Lily stared at him for a minute, and when James said nothing, she began to get extremely annoyed.

"What?" She groaned, bracing herself for another one if his tricks.

"Well, Lily…" James began, failing horribly to sound mature, "As you know, everyone is going on the Hogsmead trip next weekend. I was wondering, ignoring all past arguments we've had, if you would perhaps accompany me on this wonderful excursion."

Lily let the stupidity of this statement sink in, checked to make sure he was serious, and began to roar with laughter.

"What makes you think I would go on a date with you, James Potter?" she replied, hardly able to speak.

"Aw, come on Lily." James continued, looking slightly mischievous." Pretty please? I promise to behave myself…"

Again, Lily laughed.

"_Behave_? _You_!" she spat, taking James aback, "You couldn't behave yourself if your life depended on it!"

James said nothing at this, but instead screwed his face up in concentration. Wondering what he was planning to do, Lily gazed thoughtfully at his fellow marauders across the room. They were watching the pair with great interest, and Sirius went as far as to give Lily a sarcastic thumbs up. Lily turned back to James, ignoring the laughter of his friends, and waited for him to finally speak.

"I'll tell you what." Said James, suddenly sounding businesslike, "How about we make a little wager?"

Lily cocked an eyebrow.

"Like what?" She asked, sounding a little more nervous then she wanted to.

"If tomorrow I behave myself," Said James, leaning forward and grinning, "You have to come to Hogsmead with me next weekend."

Lily, who hadn't been expecting that, took a moment to consider.

"And if you don't behave?" she asked, also leaning forward.

"If I don't behave…" Said James, pointing to her parchment on the table, "I'll do your homework for an entire month."

Lily thought hard about this, weighing the options in her mind, and turned her gaze to the lovely day outside the window. It _would_ be nice to have a little break for once, and it wasn't like James was stupid, or anything. Aside from her, he had the best grades out of all the Seventh year students.

"James Potter, you have a deal." She smiled, holding out her hand.

James beamed at this, ruffled his hair again, and shook Lily's hand to seal the deal.

James stood up, strut across the room again, and sat down with his friends to tell them about the wager. Lily returned to her homework, grinning slightly as she did, and began planning in her mind all the things she would do with her month off.

James, on the other hand, started planning his date.

_Well, that's chapter 2! Chapter 3 coming soon!_


	3. Backfire

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, and if I did, all the books would all be out by now and I would be reading them. This is a small romance fanfiction about Lilly and James.

**Catch it like a Snitch**

Chapter 3: Backfire

The next day was very tense indeed. James wanted to go on a date with Lily. The only way he would be able to was if he behaved for the entire day. Lily hated James, and she didn't want to go out with him. The only way she wouldn't have to go out with him was if he did something bad and lost the bet. In order to make him do something bad, Lily had to take matters into her own hands.

"Lily… This is an awful idea."

Brianna stood next to Lily, holding her books tightly against her chest. Lily peered around the corner, waiting for James to pass by, and clutched the dungbomb in her hand abnormally tight.

"Brianna, I refuse to go on a date with that prat." Said Lily, glancing back for a moment as she did, "I have to make sure James goes and does something bad today. If I throw this dungbomb at him…well… I would bet my wand he'll have something to say about it."

Brianna sighed again, looked down the opposite side of the hall, and spotted her good friend Frank Longbottom. He waved at her, pointed to the great hall, and Brianna gave him a silent thumbs up.

"Hey, Lily… I'm going to get some lunch." She said flatly, taking Lily by surprise, "I'll see you later… let me know how it goes."

Lily huffed at this, stuck out her tongue, and turned back to watch her post. If Brianna wanted to abandon her then it was her own stupid problem. Lily had more important things to worry about at the moment, anyway. She would eat a frog liver before she went on a date with James Potter.

Meanwhile, down the hall, James was walking briskly with Sirius talking about his date. Sirius, sick of hearing James talk about it, nodded sometimes but completely ignored him. Lily, who was still peering around the corner, saw James entering into her firing range. She was so excited about her plan that she almost let out a whoop of excitement.

Closer…closer…

"James!" Lily yelled, jumping from behind the wall, "Have some of this!"

With that, Lily chucked her dungbomb directly at James. Caught of guard, James took the dungbomb in the middle of the forehead. It bounced off him, exploded, and released a stench of biblical proportions. People in the hall began to scream and run away. A few people, who had gotten the full blast of the dungbomb gas, hacked horribly as they ducked into nearby classrooms.

"Lily!" James gagged, running away from the gas, "Lily! What's your problem!"

James, however, never got a reply. At that precise moment Professor McGonagall, who had been on her way to lunch, swept down the hallway looking absolutely furious. Lily, who had her back turned to her, danced and made faces at James. James stood rooted to the spot, wondering what horrible fate was in store for them.

"Evans! Potter! My office! NOW!"

Lily turned around, having just stopped giving James a very rude gesture, and stared up at Professor McGonagall with a complete look of terror. James walked forward, soon followed by Lily, and drug his feet slowly into Professor McGonagall's office. The pair sat down in the chairs, said nothing, and flinched as she stormed in after them and slammed the door.

"Never… never in my days here…"

Lily looked down at her shoes. James, having been in trouble plenty of times before, remained calm.

"You two!" she yelled, looking utterly mad, "What were you thinking; throwing that horrible thing in the hallway!"

"P-Professor…" Lily stammered, looking up slightly at her, "I was only… We were…"

"None of your excuses!" McGonagall snapped, making Lily flinch again. "You two will both serve detention tomorrow night at 5pm. Meet me in the trophy room and I will give you your punishment when you arrive. Ten points from Gryffindor, as well. Now go eat some lunch and continue with your day."

"What did I do!" James protested, making McGonagall's mouth twitch, "She's the one that threw it at me!"

McGonagall laughed.

"Potter, I'm sure Ms. Evans wouldn't have thrown that at you unless you had done something to her in the first place. Now, both of you… OUT!"

With that, the pair left the office silently. As soon as McGonagall was out of sight, James turned to Lily with a look of disgust.

"Good one, Evans!" James shouted, poking himself in the chest, "Now _I'm_ in trouble for something _you_ did!"

Lilly laughed under her breath.

"Don't like it, do you?" She replied, making James cock an eyebrow, "Now you know how I felt when you ruined my potion in class and got me extra homework!"

James looked taken aback.

"W-Well, you were cheating, anyway!" He hollered, making Lily scowl. "You knew you were going to lose, so you went and tried to provoke me into doing something!"

Lily's scowl vanished, and she yawned rather loudly.

"You never said that _I_ had to behave, James." She replied, smirking happily at her own wicked cleverness. "The agreement was that _you _had to behave, I recall. You never said that I couldn't provoke you."

"Well, whatever!" James retorted, still looking furious, "Now we both have detention; I hope you're happy!"

With that, the pair stormed off in opposite directions. Brianna and Sirius, who had been watching from around the corner, exchanged amused looks and began to laugh hysterically.

_Well folks, one more chapter to go! I hope you like the ending!_


	4. Spit Shine

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, and if I did, all the books would all be out by now and I would be reading them. This is a small romance fanfiction about Lilly and James.

**Catch it like a Snitch**

Chapter 4: Spit Shine

The next day came and went with little event. James was angry with Lily, much to the surprise of the other Gryffindor students, and Lily was mad at James (This was normal, so it was given much less attention then the latter). At 5pm sharp, with dirty glares and huffy silence, James and Lily met with Professor McGonagall in the trophy room to see what they would be doing.

"Well," Said Professor McGonagall, pointing to a pair of rags and water filled buckets on the floor, "You will clean all the trophies in this room until they are clean enough to eat off of."

Lily sighed; James frowned.

"You will remain her until I allow you to leave." She continued, walking past them and stopping by the door, "You are not permitted to use magic. You may begin."

With that, Professor McGonagall exited the room and walked back to her office. Silently, but angrily, James and Lilly began to work. Two hours later, after half the trophies in the room had been cleaned, James tossed his rag into his bucket and glanced over at Lily. He opened his mouth to say something, reconsidered, and opened his mouth again. He found it hard to be mad at her anymore, having channeled all his anger into cleaning with great enthusiasm, but he still found it difficult to speak with her again; she was just too pretty to be spoken to normally.

"Fancy a rest?" He asked, trying hard to keep his voice even.

"Huh? Oh, sure…" Lily replied, yawning loudly and tossing her rag aside.

Sitting in silence, the pair took a brief, and well-merited, break. After a few minutes of nothing eventful, James chanced a glance over at Lily to see what she was doing. Lily noticed this immediately, said nothing in reply, and turned her head away to try and ignore him.

It was then, when Lilly turned away, that James decided to speak to her again.

"Uh, Lily…" He said, abandoning his mock voice of maturity, "Can I ask you something important? Something odd…"

Lily, too tired to care about anything, looked at James and nodded.

"Well," James began, wondering why it was so hard to talk to her, "I just wanted to know…uh… Do you really hate me all that much? I mean… as much as you say you do to other people?"

Lily was slapped back to reality.

"Why?" She asked, pondering if he was actually being serious.

James looked at his feet, scratched the back of his neck nervously, and glanced determinately at the opposite side of the room. Lily sighed, stood up, and went to retrieve her rag again.

"It's just…" James mumbled, finally thinking of a good reply, "I want to know why because… uh… well…"

Lilly frowned.

"What?" She asked, trying to figure out what he wanted.

"Well… It's just…I like you a lot, Lily…" he sighed, his face turning slightly red. "I know I'm horrible to you sometimes, and I know I do stupid things that make you mad…"

Lily stared transfixed. Was this the same James Potter that had put a chocolate frog into her cauldron? Was this the same man that got amusement out of terrorizing people he saw every day?

"I… I just don't want you to hate me, that's all." He continued, finally looking up and giving her a weak smile. "I would never really hurt you, you know. I would never do anything that would… I dunno'… Cause you permanent damage."

Lily laughed at this. James looked relieved.

"Well, James." She smiled, sitting on the floor next to him, "You do seem to pick on me more then you pick on anybody else. I know you're just playing half the time, but that doesn't mean I won't get angry at you, you know."

James nodded sheepishly at this. Lilly noticed that he looked slightly nervous.

"I'm sorry." He said suddenly, turning his face towards hers. "I guess… I guess that's just how I show my affection."

Lily felt herself blush. James scooted closer to her and put his arm around her shoulders.

"You know," He whispered, leaning over to speak in her ear, "If you don't mind me asking again, I would love it if you came with me to Hogsmead next weekend."

Lilly giggled in reply. James pulled her closer and stared into her eyes.

"Can I take that as a 'Yes'?" he smirked, resting his forehead against hers.

For a moment, Lily said nothing. They stared at each other huskily; their faces so close together it seemed illegal. Finally, James leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. Lily, smiling shyly, nodded her head and blushed even harder.

"Excellent." James grinned, still gazing into her eyes, "You're either really tired or I caught you off guard; I caught you like a snitch, I did."

Lilly sighed. James was an idiot, but a cute idiot at that.

"You always catch the snitch." She whispered, not knowing what else to say.

With that, James leaned in and kissed her on the lips. Lily felt all the hatred she ever had for James melt away like a hot knife threw butter. She kissed him back, wrapping her arms around his neck, and leaned into his chest as he broke away with a chuckle.

"What's so funny?" She asked, closing her eyes and resting her head on his shoulder.

"Well," James smiled, kissing her quickly on her forehead, "Professor McGonagall is waiting for us to finish."

Lilly gasped, turned around, and felt her face glow crimson with embarrassment.

"Well, now that's what I call a spit shine." Professor McGonagall frowned.

_That's it, folks! I hope you liked it!_


End file.
